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Occupancy

Ages of children

Airport

Location

6/10

The hotel is on the developed south coast of Barbados backing on to the long soft white sands of Dover Beach. Several other hotels share the beach, including adjacent Sandals Royal Barbados. Even though Sandals has created breakwaters off its section of the beach, the sea here can sometimes be too rough for safe swimming or watersports. Smelly sargassum seaweed sometimes accumulates on the beach; when it gets bad, the hotel shuttles guests to an unaffected beach. The bars and clubs of St Lawrence Gap, the centre of nightlife on Barbados, are 10 to 15 minutes' walk away.

Style & character

8/10

Hibiscus and bougainvillea, waterfalls and poolside fire pits, mattresses in giant pods and swinging love seats all help create a romantic atmosphere. The hotel is also more stylish than you might imagine an all-inclusive hotel to be – for example, one pool is flanked by elegant, candy-striped cabanas. Guests are mostly young to middle-aged couples, many from the UK. Of all the properties in the Sandals chain, this is the most popular with British guests.

Service & facilities

9/10

Service at Sandals resorts is generally outstanding by Caribbean standards, and that is true at this Barbados property. You can expect a can-do attitude and ear-to-ear smiles from all the staff you come across. If you stay in one of the top-end suites, you will have access to round-the-clock service from uniformed butlers trained by the Guild of Professional English Butlers; guests are given a mobile phone pre-set with their number to summon them at any time. Mid-priced Club Level rooms come with access to a concierge lounge.

In terms of facilities, there are three swimming pools – a lively one by the beach with a swim-up bar, the elegant one with cabanas, and a 200m-long lagoon pool that snakes under bridges and jets of water. Other facilities include non-motorised watersports, a gym and an attractive spa. Guests at Sandals Barbados also have full access to the facilities at the connected Sandals Royal Barbados property, including another spa complex, more swimming pools (one on a rooftop) and an indoor bowling alley.

Staff arrange daytime activities (volleyball on the beach, water polo etc). The evening entertainment is excellent, and might include bands on a piazza at the entrance to the resort, spirited singalongs in the piano bar, and a sax player roaming the grounds playing sensual tunes.

Parking

Restaurant

Bar

Laundry

Room service

Pool

Spa

Wi-Fi

Fitness centre

Beach

Rooms

9/10

There are 280 rooms, spread across 14 categories. In all, you can expect smart mahogany furnishings and eye-catching décor – for example, colourful prints of the green monkeys found on Barbados. More expensive Club Level or Butler Level suites feature swim-up patios connected to the lagoon pool, pod-like baths on the terrace, and elaborate bathrooms with giant walk-in showers and vast circular baths designed for two to soak in. Club and Butler suites are stocked with full bottles of spirits; entry-level rooms are supplied with soft drinks, beer and wine.

Food & drink

9/10

The quality of the food and the stylishness of the restaurants (several are set in air-conditioned, glass-walled pavilions) surpass what you might expect at an all-inclusive. The 11 restaurants cover a host of cuisines, including Caribbean, Italian, Japanese, sushi and Indian (try the lobster curry). There's also a steakhouse serving melt-in-the-mouth Wagyu beef, an English-themed pub (bangers and mash on offer) and a French café. Guests can also dine at seven further restaurants at Sandals Royal Barbados.

Unlike in most all-inclusives there is no extra charge to eat in any of the restaurants, and no restriction on how often you can eat in particular ones. Dotted around the property are also lots of bars. As at all Sandals, drinks served under the all-inclusive terms are household-name, high-end brands; these include very drinkable Californian wine, and Barbados and Jamaican rum.

Value for money

9/10

Double rooms from £428 in low season; and from £569 in high season. All-inclusive basis. All on-site activities (except spa treatments) are included in the rates, as is diving for certified divers. Free Wi-Fi.

Access for guests with disabilities?

Adapted rooms available, all public areas are wheelchair-accessible and special wheelchairs are provided to access the beach.